Embossing plate and method of producing the same



- Marc) 27-, 1928.

1 63,688- c. E. EDWARDS masossme' PLATE AND METHOD o'F PRODUCING was SAME Original Filed Dec. 15. 1926 INVENTOR.

Charles 17728!" 1? wards;

AT-TORNEY.

Patented Mar. 27, 1928.

PTEN orrlcs.

CHARLES E. EDWARDS, MANCHESTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE;

EMBOSSING BLATE AND METHQD OF PRODUCING THE SAME.

Original application filed December, 15, 1926, Serial No, 155,068. Divided and this application fled Inc 3 21, 1927. Serial No. 200,421.

My invention relates to an embossing plate, for marking shoe upper sections, and other material, and to a method of producing the same. i I

The present application is a dlVlSlOIl of 'my co-pending application for method of and apparatus for marking shoe upper sections,

,filed December 15, 1926, Serial No. 155, 068. As is Well known, fine shoes, particularly l0 ladies shoes, frequently have their uppers made in part or whole of fabric such as velvet or satin. It is customary to stitch ornamental designs on the outer or right side of the fabric. .The present method of working these .designs' upon the fabric upper sections is to provide a stencil with the design and trace the design from the stencil by a pen or pencil, upon the wrong side of the fabric. Attempts have been made to trace the design upon the right side of the fabric but 1 this is not the general practice as difliculty is experienced in erasing or removing the design and the fabric may be injured. The application of the design to the fabric by means of tracing the same from a stencil is' time consuming and expensive and it is diflicult for the operator to follow the design when it is applied to the wrong side of the fabric.

' In accordance with my invention, 1 provide a preferably metallic. plate and form thereon an embossed pattern of thedesired character. The embossed pattern is made up of a number of lugs or bosses whichare punched from ,the material of the plate. This embossing plate is used in connection with the fabric to be marked, such as silk or satin and is applied to the wrong side of the fabric, the right side'of which is placed upon a sheet of transfer paper, similar to carbon paper, but having a suitable v color which will be apparent upon the surface of the fabric. The embossing plate, fabric and transfer sheet are placed in a press and subjected to suitable pressure whereby the pattern will be formed upon the right side of the fabric. In' a similar manner, the embossing plate and transfer sheet may be employed to mark white or light colored leather. These-markings may be readily erased.

The embossin plate may also be employed in placing mar s upon dark "leather, and when this is to be done, the embossing late is arranged upon the ain side "0 the leather and they are put in a press and subjected to suitable pressure. The lugsor bosses produce indentations or depressions in the leather, without breaking the grain. As the grain of the leather is not broken, the

marking will disappear. from the leather after'the stitching or by-suitable folding or working of the leather.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification and in which like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Figure l is a side elevation of the elements of a press, showing the embossing plate and associated elements arranged therein.

Figure 2 is a detailed section through the dyes of a punch which is used in making .the lugs or bosses on the embossing plate,

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the embossing plate, section of the shoe upper and a transfer sheet, showing them in thesuperposed relation,

Figure 4 is a detailed sectionthrough the lugs or bosses of the embossing sheet,

Figure 4 is an enlarged detailed section through one of the bosses, and,

Figure 5 is a side elevation of the right side of a fabric shoe upper section. In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, the numeral 10 designates the stationary base of a press and 11 the vertically, movable. plunger arranged above the same.

Slidable upon the base 10 is a carriage 12, adapted to be shifted beneath the .plunger 11 The plunger 11 has its lower side lined with a block 13, which is formed of rubber having fabric inserted therein. This block is suitably resilient and stiff, to produce the desired pressure. Any suitable means may be employed to move the plunger 11 toward the base 10, and as any suitable form of press may be used, it is unnecessary the press further.

The carriage 12 is'preferably formed of to describe v upper, to be marked, and I preferably emloy a color which is readily visible under artificial light such as when brought close to.

an electric bulb.

The numeral 17 designates an embossing plate, which is preferably formed of galvanized iron. This embossing plate is made in the shape of the upper shoe section to be marked. In the present illustration, the invention is explained by marking a quarter, but, of course, the shape will vary when other upper sections are being marked. Further, the embossing plate being of the same shape and size as the quarter 18, to be marked, the edges of the embossing plate will coincide with the edges of the quarterand the pattern or marking will, therefore, be properly located upon the quarter. The numeral 19 designates the pattern which it is desired to produce upon the quarter 18. This pattern is formed upon the embossing plate 17 by bending or punching out lugs or bosses 20,- Figure 4. This is accomplished by passing plate 17 through a punch illustrated in Figure 2, wherein 21 designates the male die and 22 the female die. The lugs or bosses are formed in succession and are equidistantly spaced and of a uniform length. The length of the bosses will vary slightly depending upon material to be marked. A thicker-fabric having a greater compressibility may require longer bosses. When marking leather, the bosses must be of such a length that they will produce indentations or depressions in the grain side of the leather, without breaking the grain. In order that the lugs or bosses may operate satisfactorilv in marking satin and velvet upper sections and leather upper sections the bosses should have a len th of .031 to .035 of an inch although the ength may be varied somewhat and satisfactory results obtained. The lugs or bosses, Figurel, have their ends 26 completely closed,

and the material of the metal is not broken at the ends of the bosses as this would be disadvantageous. These lugs or bosses, Figure 4', are generally conical and taper toward their free ends. I have found that in order to successfully stamp or'press these bosses indicated at 25 is a vertical line drawn through the point 26 of the boss, which point is slightly rounded at its end. The

distance between the line 25 and the .base point .27 is sli htly shorter than the distance between t e line 25 and the base point 28. This distance, and the slight curve in the side 24, provides for suflicient metal to form the boss without breaking the metal at the point 26. Further, I have found by actual tests that these bosses stamped or pressed in this manner will not warp or distort the sheet 17, which occurs if the bosses are stamped as true cones. The larger area or curved side of each boss, while it is being stamped, is arranged next to the unstamped portion of the plate 17 or remote from the previously stamped boss, whereby a greater portion of the metal necessary to form the boss, is taken from the unstamped portion of the plate, and the previously stamped portion will not pucker or warp. This is particularly true where the bosses must be arranged in close relation. However, where the bosses are farther apart, satisfactory results may be obtained by form ing them conical. As clearly shown in Figure 4, the curved side 24 of the boss is convex, and henceits point of contact at a given elevation is higher than the corre-.

sponding point of contact at the same elevation of the side 23. As a result of this, when the-boss is brought into engagement with the shoe upper section, to be marked:

the boss will creep slightly laterally upon the work. This will result in the mark upon the work being slightly larger than thepoint of the, boss and further, indentations in leather shoe uppers will be made more pronounced, without breaking the grain of the leather. by the fact that the convex side of the boss has a greater area than the straight side.

The male die element 21 and the female die element 22 are at first formed of annealed high speed tool steel which is relatively soft. The male die member is first accurately shaped to produce the precise shape and size of the boss 20 and a conical recess of substantially the proper size "is formed in the female die. The male die 21 is now subjected to a hardening process and is subsequently pressed into the female I die, which accurately shapes the cavity of the female die to match the shape and size of the male die, after which the female die is also hardened.

The bosses are punched one at a time in succession, and the curved sides having the larger area are formed next to the unpunched tfiortion-of the plate. As a result of this, ere is 'suflicient metal to prevent the metal breaking at the points of the The creeping action is also. effected.

bosses, and the greater portion of themetal 7 is taken from the unpunched portion of the 1,eas,esa

- sheet, in the direction in which the punching is proceeding. This prevents the previously punched portion of the sheet from warping or puckering, and the unpunched portion is suiiiciently strong to resist puckering or warping.

In the practice of the method, the transfer paper 16 is arranged upon the carriage 10, formed, of cast iron or the like, with its coated face uppermost, and the quarter formed of silk or satin is placed upon this transfer paper with its outer or finished side lowermost in contact with the coated face of the transfer paper. The embossing plate is then placed upon the unfinished side of the fabric quarter 18, with the bosses engaging such unfinished side. With the elements thus arranged, the plunger 14 isforced downwardly under suitable pressure, and the yielding block 13 engages the top of the embossing plate, and uniformly distributes the pressure. In this manner suitable pres sure is applied to the elements held within the press, and upon the opening of the press and the removal of the quarter 18, it will be found that the pattern 19 has been trans- N ferred to the finished face of the fabric quarter, as illustrated in Figure o.

In marking white kid or light colored leather, the leather quarter or the like is arranged between the embossing plate and the transfer sheet, with its grain side preferably engaging the coated side of the transfer sheet, and pressure applied to these elements, with the result that the pattern is transferred upon the grain side of the leather. The pattern can also be transferred upon the opposite side of the white leather, if desired.

In marking patent leather or black calf leather, the transfer sheet may be dispensed with and the grain side of the leather arranged uppermost, in the press, in contact with the bosses of the embossing sheet, and pressure applied to the same. The bosses produce indentations or depressions in the grain side of the leather without breakin the grain. This produces a marking whic is readily visible but which will disappear after the stitching or which may be wholly removed by folding or working the leather,

adjacent to the depressions.

While the invention has been explained or illustrated in the placing" of an ornamental design upon the upper section, yet it may also be used for producing other marking, such as lines for indicating lap, stitching, or guide points, or for any other desired indications, used in the reduction of shoes, and for marking any ot or desired material. It is to be understood that the form of my invention, herewith shown and described, is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts ma be resorted to without departing from e spirit of my invention, or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I cla1m:

1. An embossing plate for use in marking upper shoe sections, said plate having a plurality of tapered bosses stamped therefrom, one side of each boss having a greater area than its opposite side, the greater area sides being arranged alternately with relation to the lesser area sides. 7 a

2. An embossing plate for use in marking shoe upper sections, said plate having a pin rality of tapered bosses stamped therefrom and arranged in close relation, one side of each boss being curved and of greater area than the opposite side of the same boss, the

greater area sides being arranged alternately with relation to the lesser area sides.

3. An embossing plate for use in marking shoe upper sections, said plate having a plurality of tapered bosses stampedtherefrom and arranged in close relation, one side of each boss being straight and the opposite side curved, the base of the curved side being arranged a greater distance from a line perpendicular to the face of the plate and passing through the center of the reduced end of the boss than the base of the straight face,

the curved side having a greater area than the straight side, the curved sides being alternately arranged with relation to the straight sides. V

4. The method of producing an embossing plate for use in marking shoe upper sections, comprising pressing bosses from the plate in succession and in the direction of the un pressed portion of the plate, and pressing a greater portion of the material from the plate upon the side of each boss extendin in the direction of the unpressed portion 0 the plate.

5. The method of producing an embossing plate for use in marking shoe upper sections,

a 7 An embossing plate for marking flexible material, said plate being fiat and provided with bosses arranged in close relation, said bosses .having corresponding alternate are sides of greater area than their opposite sides.

V 8. An embossing plate for marking flexible material, said plate beingflat and pro- 7- vided with bosses arranged in close relation, said bosses having corresponding alternate sides convex and their opposite sides straight, the convex sides having a greater 5 area than the straight sides.

' 9.- The method of producing an embossing plate, comprising pressing bosses in close relation from the material of a metal plate, in

succession and in the direction of the-unpressed portion of the metal plate, and 10 pressing a greater amount of the metal upon the side of each boss adjacent to the unpunched portion of the plate.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

CHARLES E. EDWARDS. 

